Case Studies and Examples

The case studies highlight how local governments, non-profits,
community organizations, and the private sector are responding to
climate change. New case studies will be added periodically. Use
the submission form below to recommend an innovative effort that
should be included.

Challenges and Solutions

The case studies are organized by solutions that practitioners are
finding to a common set of challenges in adaptation. These challenges
span the spectrum of community planning to project implementation.

In addition to the case studies developed by OPR staff, the
Clearinghouse includes case studies from the Ocean Protection
Council, the Local Government Commission’s CivicSpark program,
CalTrans’ SB1 Adaptation Planning grantees, and more.

Other Examples

Find more case studies and examples on the following sites:

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research has many ongoing partnerships and programs to produce case studies of replicable best practices, some of which are highlighted in the Best Practice Pilot Program. The office is currently collecting a variety of case studies that will be updated on an ongoing basis.

The Georgetown Adaptation Clearinghouse provides resources that help policymakers at all levels of governments reduce or avoid the impacts of climate change to communities in the United States. The Adaptation Clearinghouse focuses on climate change impacts that adversely affect people and our built environment. Content focal areas include the water, coastal, transportation, infrastructure and public health sectors, and adaptation planning, policies, laws, and governance.

The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKEX) aims to build a shared knowledge base for managing natural and built systems in the face of rapid climate change. Just as importantly, it is intended to help build an innovative community of practice. It helps users to find appropriate resources quickly by vetting and clearly organizing the best information available, building a community via an interactive online platform, creating a directory of practitioners to share knowledge and strategies, an identifying and explaining data tools and information available from other sites. CakeX consists of case studies, a virtual library, directory and tools and houses a variety of community forums for the discussion of current issues in climate adaptation.

The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website designed to help people find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience, offering information from all across the U.S. federal government in one easy-to-use location. The goal of the Toolkit is to improve people’s ability to understand and manage their climate-related risks and opportunities, and to help them make their communities and businesses more resilient to extreme events. Visit their easy-to-use case studies page to filter by threat/stressor, topic, region, and steps to resilience.

The Local Government Commission works to build livable communities and local leadership by connecting leaders via innovative programs and network opportunities, advancing policies through participation at the local and state level, and implementing solutions as technical assistance provider to local jurisdictions. LGC is an active leader in California climate adaptation by playing an active partnership role in the Alliance for Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA), administering the Governor’s Initiative AmeriCorps program, CivicSpark , and much more. Visit their climate change resources page or browse current CivicSpark projects taking place throughout the state to stay up to date on some of their adaptation and resilience-focused work.

The Institute for Local Government has a number of adaptation resources including case studies of climate adaptation plans in California to showcase the variety of formats adaptation planning can take and the many levels and forms of government that can make it happen. Local actions being taken in California through policy and program initiatives. Through the GIS map, click on any local government to see the work they are doing on climate change.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

Wildfire

Project or Example

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. This example highlights a state and local partnership to remove roof wood shingles from high-risk structures for wildfire.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

Wildfire

Project or Example

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. This example highlights combatting tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada mountains by removing dead trees, improving forest health and removing public safety hazards.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

Wildfire

Project or Example

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. Showcased in this example are the efforts of a partnership to reduce fire fuel load in Lake Theodore, a high priority fire prevention location.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

Wildfire

Project or Example

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. This example demonstrates a partnership effort, funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, to reforest after the King Fire of 2014.

Southern California Association of Governments. 2018

DroughtExtreme heatSea level riseWildfire

Case Study

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) will use this project to prepare a comprehensive adaptation planning framework for its six counties to support regional climate adaptation planning. SCAG will also provide resources … and implementation tools for local jurisdictions, regional planning agencies, and other stakeholders. SCAG will provide an inclusive public engagement process that includes all sectors, disadvantaged communities, and tribal communities.

Sacramento Area Council of Governments. 2018

Extreme heatExtreme stormsFloodingWildfire

Case Study

This project will identify areas of the Sacramento region and transportation infrastructure that are vulnerable to climate impacts, as well as transportation infrastructure and assets that are critical to the function of the transportation … network. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has explored broadly the climate impacts that will affect the region. This project will provide much greater detail and understanding of how those impacts will affect the region’s transportation system and how to mitigate these risks. The first component of the project is a vulnerability and criticality assessment of transportation assets, which will inform guidelines for prioritizing funding decisions. A second component is an assessment of the benefits and costs of asset-level climate adaptation strategies for various transportation projects and project types.

Western Riverside Council of Governments; San Bernardino County Transportation Agency. 2018

DroughtExtreme heatFloodingWildfire

Case Study

The Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) and San Bernardino County Transportation Agency (SBCTA) are developing a Regional Climate Adaptation Toolkit (Toolkit) to assist local jurisdictions in developing climate adaptation and resiliency … plans for transportation infrastructure and overall community resilience at the local level. The Toolkit will also address disadvantaged communities by removing financial and capacity barriers for low-income and multilingual communities to develop climate resiliency strategies and planning documents.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

Extreme heatFloodingSea level riseTemperatureWildfire

Project or Example

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. Caltrans is working on climate change vulnerability assessments to the State Highway System, summarized in this example.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. This example focuses on the Cal-Adapt's useful to the energy sector.

Sierra Business Council. 2018

DroughtExtreme stormsFloodingSnowpackWildfire

Case Study

This project supported both Sierra Business Council’s Climate Planning program and the Sierra Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Partnership (Sierra CAMP). The Climate Planning team worked to implement the Energy Action Plans of Alpine County … and Sierra County, and Sierra CAMP focused on network education and expansion. The goal for both programs was to assist Sierra stakeholders in understanding adaptation and the tools needed to plan for climate change, and to promote community climate action and education.